DD is looking for a few reach schools to apply to. She feels she can get in to most of the schools on her current list. She has a 1480 SAT and a 4.4wGPA. She will have taken 8 AP clases by the time she graduates. We are in PA and would prefer she stay on east coast but that is not mandatory. Looking to study biology with plans for some type of health care career. We will not qualify for financial aid and are looking for as much merit as possible. Thanks in advance for the suggestions.
Reaches don’t give merit though, the whole merit conundrum means you have to compromise to be at the top of the pile. How much merit? How much can you pay?
There are probably some 50 potential reach/low reach schools in the US for your daughter, and they differ to some degree. Let’s try to find some that fit her known preferences. To that end:
- Would she prefer a small (<5000 students), medium (5k-15k) or large school (>15,000)?
- Would she prefer rural, suburban/small city or urban environment?
- Does she have location or weather preferences? (you've left it open for her to go outside the NE, though you'd prefer the NE. Does she have a notable preference?)
- Would she prefer an open curriculum, a curriculum featuring a strong core, or one featuring fairly standard distribution requirements?
- Would she prefer a more intellectual or a more pre-professional academic vibe?
- Are class sizes in survey-level courses important to her -- classes typically taken the first two years or prior to entering one's major?
- Which is more important to her, closer interaction with professors or access to more research opportunities and courses/majors?
- Does she have any preference in academic calendar: semesters vs. quarters/trimesters?
- What are her thoughts on Greek/party life?
- Are big-time sports important to her?
- Would she be happy having fun mostly on campus? If not, would she prefer the great outdoors or the city for fun? (and regardless of the first answer, info on the second can still be used)
- Does (a lot of...) political activism bother her?
Answers to those questions will help us.
Obviously if cost is a consideration, you’ll want to run the NPC on each school before she applies, to make sure she can afford to attend without taking on too much debt. (Edit: you mentioned the need for merit. Many reach schools don’t really offer a lot of merit aid – and if they do the awards are highly competitive – but more “low reach/high match” schools do. We can still give you a list of reach schools and simply point out that merit will be hard to come by, or suggest mostly lower-reach schools – your call.
If she likes and can afford all the schools to which she applies, and she is applying to at least one admissions safety, chances are she will have a happy admissions outcome. So let’s figure out what she wants in a school, and we’ll apply those preferences to find her 5-10 good fits among those 50ish reach schools (or lower-reach schools that offer more opportunities for merit aid).
What is on her list so far?
What is your budget? Will you ever have 2 in school at the same time? Reach schools generally don’t give merit, however some reach schools have scholarships that your D can apply for ( Vanderbilt, etc). These awards are HIGHLY competitive… you have to get in first.
What is your D looking for besides biology? What schools are currently on her list?
@prezbucky - those are all great questions! Unfortunately I don’t really know exactly what she is looking for. Your questions are providing good discussion points for us! She has liked every school we have seen- though it has mostly been larger schools- Pitt, Binghamton, UDel. I see her doing well at a mid size school, though an honors program at a large school may give her a smaller school feel. I like your thoughts on more of a low reach/high match, where she can get merit money. DS got into several of his reach schools but when the bottom line arrived they were out of reach financially. She is very aware of the financial piece and I have been running NPCs and know that true reach schools do not give merit money.
As far as other questions- she has little interest in sports- I don’t think she has been to 1 game of any kind throughout HS.
She is interested in doing research and would love the support of a strong pre-professional program to help figure out exactly where her interests would be best served. As she is not totally sure of what she wants academically a more open curriculum is probably important for her to be able to explore a bit. I would not want her stuck in a program that only has one possible ending and then she decides it is not what she wants. She has ruled out majoring in nursing (even though she thinks she wants something in healthcare) specifically because of this concern.
Is neutral on the frat scene, and I don’t see her joining a sorority.
She does not want too rural of a location but also does not want to be in the middle of a big city. She doesn’t love the cold but would not rule out a school based solely on weather. She will be happy finding things to do on campus and would most likely join clubs that interest her academically and socially.
She is politically liberal and can hold her own when discussing her beliefs.
Thanks again so much for your response - the talking points have been helpful. I look forward to seeing your suggestions.
@twogirls - we will have 2 in school for 2’years. DS has a half scholarship where he is, so that helps a lot! I know most reach schools do not give merit- like the suggestion above of the low reach- who would give merit.
She is looking possibly at pre-med or something in the health care field, but just came home really excited talking about some kind of cancer research she read about for class so who knows.
Significant merit will be hard at a low reach/high match type of school. How much merit are you looking for? Have you considered the U of Rochester or possibly Lehigh ( Greek life is big but she doesn’t have to join)? U Miami?
Pitt offers merit ( not guaranteed) and your D would likely make honors. She would also most likely make the scholars program at Bing. What schools are on her list so far?
As an in state student for Pitt with her stats, she should get some merit ($5000 ish) and their Honors College. Their website will spell it out.
Pitt and Bing are both on her list. She is also considering Elon and College of Charleston.
How about the U of S Carolina honors? She may like schools such as Wake Forest, UNC, UVA… but she won’t get merit to those schools. Having 2 in college at the same time might get her some FA- check the NPC.
I am not really sure what a low reach would be… to be honest. Emory? It’s hard to get merit there unless you have something that they want… besides stats.
My D was also high stats and got merit to UMD-CP, UConn, Pitt, Lehigh, Ohio State.
Actually I forgot about Uof SC- honors college- that is also on her list. She started the app yesterday, only needs to work on the personal statement and hit send.
DS got merit at UMD-CP as well, but less than other places. She will prob apply there too.
Emory is a good idea for a reach, thanks.
My D got into Emory but no merit. A few years ago kids like her from our HS were Emory Scholars. It is becoming way, way more competitive… especially being from an over represented area of the country.
My son attends the Honors College at CofC. Sounds like your daughter is a great candidate . They have a great relationship with the Medical College of SC which is within walking distance . It provides many opportunities for volunteering and job shadowing. CofC students also have opportunities to participate in research . I would definitely consider it. I can’t say enough good things about the Honors College. With your daughter’s stats she would be competitive for some of the larger merit awards. There are quite a few students from the Northeast. If she’s interested , watch the deadlines . I believe that they are in November. Feel free to PM with any questions . Here’s stats for the latest class.
http://today.cofc.edu/2017/08/24/class-of-2021-freshman-profile/
I think if she likes SUNY-Bing and Pitt, you have very good safety and low match options in the bag, and can go match- and low reach-hunting with gusto.
So plugging in these things:
- Research opportunities would be nice (keeping in mind some LACs do offer research opportunities too)
- Pre-professional
- Midsize
- Open or standard curriculum (avoid core schools or colleges where they want you to declare early – colleges where you apply to a specific program or school initially, like Cornell, Georgetown, Penn and several state flagships.)
- Not rural, but not too urban either (suburban/small city)
- Would prefer warmer climes, but not ruling out based on weather alone
- Merit essentially is required for any school over about $30k(?)
- Can take or leave sports and greek scenes – not terribly important
- OK with a vocal political culture
Your chances for merit increase (generally) as selectivity decreases.
I’m going to toss in a few LACs even though they violate her midsize and pre-professional preferences, though there are some LACs with a bit of a pre-professional feel.
Some of these offer a limited number of merit scholarships, but they all offer some.
Low reach (not many offer merit, unfortunately):
- Emory (too urban?)
- Smith (check out the Five Colleges Consortium)
- Grinnell (too rural?)
- Oberlin (ditto)
- Colorado College
- USC (too urban?)
High matches:
- U of Richmond – a bit of a pre-professional vibe for a LAC
- Bryn Mawr – she could take a science major at Haverford if she wanted to. BM is part of the Quaker Consortium with UPenn, Swarthmore and Haverford, so she could take classes at all those schools too
- U of Rochester
- Boston College
- Tulane (too urban?)
- Wake Forest
- Brandeis
- Lehigh
- Lafayette
- Northeastern
Matches
- U of Miami
- SMU (check Dallas neighborhood – too urban?)
- Case Western (ditto Cleveland)
- Pepperdine
- Rhodes
- Denison
Low(ish) matches
- Lawrence
- Beloit
- St. Lawrence
- Muhlenburg
- Willamette
These are all fine schools regardless of admissions selectivity.
Thanks so much- great suggestions - she was already thinking Emory and Tulane, but now has some research to do!
Did you have an idea of how much you would pay?
It really depends. We will not qualify for aid, so are hoping to get merit money to help with the costs. We have a 529 and plan on DD taking the loan, and will be able to come up with some from our savings as well. Not comfortable putting an actual amount out there, but know what will work for us. I know that most reach schools do not give merit- so will have to look at some lower reach schools. DD is aware of this, and we are looking for suggestions.
I guess what is confusing me is the concept of a “lower reach school.” that gives merit money. I am not quite sure what that means. I guess what I am saying is that if you need significant merit to attend, then these schools ( such as Emory) become a very high reach rather than a lower reach… if that makes sense. A school like Maryland, which might be a safety or match if you are full pay, is now a “lower reach” if you need merit.
Have you considered Lafayette and the U of Rochester?
I wanted to add: my friends son had the same GPA with slightly higher scores and received $25,000 from Lafayette. My other friend’s son with slightly higher stats received very significant merit to the U of Miami ( Fla).
Going back to my previous post, I suppose you mean a " lower reach" in terms of academics but the school also happens to give competitive merit awards?